Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,824 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,881 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $8,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,079,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Visa by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $12,729,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,926 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Visa by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,526,660,000 after buying an additional 866,596 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Visa by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,356,614,000 after buying an additional 241,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,771,116,000 after buying an additional 2,785,707 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.
Visa Stock Performance
Shares of Visa stock traded down $5.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $350.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,527,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,854,371. The stock has a market cap of $646.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $354.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.
Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Visa Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.72%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Visa
In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.77, for a total value of $3,127,077.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $194,807.49. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 92,478 shares of company stock valued at $33,717,733. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. Macquarie lowered their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.84.
View Our Latest Research Report on V
About Visa
(
Free Report)
Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.
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